Deputy commissioner puts priority on extending league's growth in China

NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum has been racking up air miles since taking the league's No 2 post in February as he bids to have basketball, which is currently enjoying an all-time high in China, replace soccer as the world's favorite sport.

"Our goal is to become the No 1 sport globally," Tatum told China Daily in Shanghai last week, having wrapped up another business trip to South Africa in August.